page_title: Quarterdeck
hierarchical_section_title: Quarterdeck
caption_attribution_description: English: The stern of a 1:10 model of the ship Vasa on display at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. The photo shows the colors scholars believe were used for the sculptures on the original 17th century ship.
context_page_description: The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on board, and the word is still used to refer to such an area on a ship or even in naval establishments on land. Many such facilities have areas decorated like shipboard quarterdecks.
  In the 20th century the word came to be applied to the area at the stern of the ship, often used for secondary weapons and seaplane catapults. In modern military designs the stern has been roofed over by the helicopter deck but a large space remains underneath which is typically used for sonar equipment or small boats and which is still referred to as the quarterdeck in Commonwealth navies.
context_section_description: The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on board, and the word is still used to refer to such an area on a ship or even in naval establishments on land. Many such facilities have areas decorated like shipboard quarterdecks.
  In the 20th century the word came to be applied to the area at the stern of the ship, often (on naval vessels) used for secondary weapons and (on battleships) seaplane catapults. In modern military designs the stern has been roofed over by the helicopter deck but a large space remains underneath which is typically used for sonar equipment or small boats and which is still referred to as the quarterdeck in Commonwealth navies.
caption: A model of the richly decorated stern and quarterdeck of Vasa, a sailing warship built in the late 1620s
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